Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi is an Xbox fan and would love to see the PS5 exclusive RPG reach a wider audience one day.
Hamaguchi-san sat down with GamesRadar+ shortly before taking the stage with other winners of the Golden Joysticks Awards 2024, as the game earned four of its six nominated categories. “In terms of Final Fantasy 7, there's nothing we can say right now, but I certainly want to bring Final Fantasy 7 and the Remake series to as many players as possible,” he hinted, “so we want to create that situation, that environment, where more players can play in the future, and we want to look in that direction.
This comes just a few months after publisher Square Enix announced plans to bring some of its best JRPGs, in this case Octopath Traveler, to a multi-platform audience. It makes the prospect of a cross-platform twist for the FF7 Remake trilogy not only that much more compelling, but potentially all the more likely.
According to Hamaguchi-san, Square Enix's interest in being more flexible with its platform exclusivity is an indicator of a broader shift across the industry. “I think this goes beyond Final Fantasy 7. It really is a change in the industry, and I think we're certainly feeling now that the industry has changed in terms of there being so many different platforms and environments that people play these games on. days,” he says, reflecting on how once upon a time, publishers could “release a game in one place and get the majority of players to play it [on that platform].
“It's much more diversified now, so I think that's probably why our CEO, Mr. [Takashi] Kiryu made the decision to move further in the direction of multiplatform; “That's just the way the industry goes.” As for Hamaguchi-san's own opinion on the matter? “This is just a personal opinion now, but I have an Xbox myself,” he said enthusiastically. “I think it's a great hardware platform. “I like Xbox.”
The plot of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 is complete and the team is now moving forward with the development of the JRPG.